Holy Land bishop: concrete actions needed to achieve peace in Middle East

Lourdes, France, Jul 27, 2006 / 12:00 am (CNA).- Reacting to talks in Rome on the crisis in the Middle East, Bishop Fuad Twal, Coadjutor of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, said this week, “A humanitarian corridor is fine, UN peacekeepers are fine, but now actions should follow words.”

“As far as I know, there is still no agreement on a ceasefire, but the delegations have outlined a path to get there. The problem is that meanwhile the death and destruction continues,” the bishop said in an interview with the Religious Information Service.

He underscored that “people will have to wait for there to be peace. We need concrete actions. They want to come up with a peace plan, but the conflict that has started everything, that is, the war between Israelis and Palestinians has been going on for 60 years. If this is not solved, there will be no peace in the Middle East or the world.”

“I am in Lourdes with thousands of young people from all over Europe and their bishops. Everyone feels solidarity with the Holy Land and the Middle East,” Bishop Twal said. “Tomorrow I am going to celebrate a Mass with three thousand young people and I am going to thank them for solidarity with us,” he added.